Emceed by Long Island native and FOX News Channel (FNC) top-rated primetime host Sean Hannity, FOX Nation hosted its sixth annual Patriot Awards on Thursday, December 5, at the Tilles Center for Performing Arts in Brookville, New York.
The awards show honored and recognized America’s finest patriots, including military veterans, first responders and other inspirational everyday heroes. President-elect Donald Trump was honored with the inaugural “Patriot of the Year” award.
In attendance were FOX News Media personalities, including Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, Harris Faulkner, Bill Hemmer, Abby Hornacek, Lydia Hu, Laura Ingraham, Johnny Joey Jones, Lawrence Jones, Brian Kilmeade, Martha MacCallum, Dana Perino, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters and more.
Highlights included:
Jonathan Diller – Stephen Siller Back the Blue Award
JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO: Accepting this award in his honor, please welcome Jonathan’s wife, Stephanie Diller
STEPHANIE DILLER, WIFE OF JONATHAN DILLER: Thank you. It is my honor to be here to accept this award on behalf of my husband Jonathan… Tonight is especially special because I’m receiving this award from Stephen Siller. And looking at Stephen, a man who also lost his father and is up here supporting us, it gives me hope that my son will be OK. And although we suffered this tragedy, we will not live a tragic life. And we will live a life that supports the legacy and the spirit of who Jonathan was. I would like to thank Fox News, Tunnel to Towers, the NYPD, and the entire nation who showed support and show that it’s OK to support our officers. I know Jonathan is as proud as I am that in this room I’m sharing with Donald Trump and… I would like to thank Mr. President for supporting Jonathan’s story, for showing it’s OK to support our officers and that they are human beings that risk their lives for others, and for continuing his legacy, and just supporting my family in a dark in our life. One thing that I hope is that Jonathan’s story resonates with people and that they realize that police officers are people. They’re mothers. They’re fathers. They’re sons, daughters, brothers. And they go out there and they risk their lives for our communities. And I want people to remember that. And they don’t — they hope to come home to their families. And thank you to everybody who supports that. I hope you continue that. I will always support every officer, every person who risks their lives. Thank you for remembering him. Please remember my face, my baby’s face, my husband’s face. He’s in all of your spirits, all of your hearts. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me from the bottom my heart.
Robert Misseri-Paws of War – Award for Service
MISSERI: Thank you. Unfortunately, I have to have a little cheat sheet here. But this award is very special to us, obviously. And it’s something that we want to share with not just Paws of War, but our veterans that are here, our service, our military members like Cameron (ph), our donors, our volunteers, our passionate volunteers and staff that make all this work. So, this is more about them than us. I think that what people don’t realize is when a military member is serving overseas. They are not sure — they’re trained for a lot. They’re not trained to find this little puppy or a kitten that they fall in love with. And then, they have to come back, and there’s very little options for them to bring that animal back. And that’s what we do. We have — 10 years, we have been rescuing animals from shelters in Baltimore to bases in Baghdad. And we fortunately have placed many, many dogs with veterans as service dogs. The dogs that were on the stage earlier, all service dogs that are life changing for many veterans here tonight, and it is so important for us to acknowledge the need. And every one of you play a tremendous role in that. And that’s most important. I want to thank President Donald Trump for supporting our veterans and our military by being here tonight and showing that kind of support, and every one of you who are true patriots. For pause of war, our motto is helping both ends of the leash. And we’re going to continue to do that. Thank you. God bless America.
HANNITY: Robert, in addition to the dogs on the stage with us tonight, there were kind of a handful, you have a surprise for Specialist Clay.
MISSERI: We do. So, when Cameron reached out to us months ago, and he told us about a dog that he rescued while overseas that appeared at his gate, he was watching the gate, and his little puppy, malnourished, hungry, starving, cold, he started caring for this dog. Feyre (ph) is what he named her. And he reached out to us, and again, he cannot play any role in getting that dog here. And tonight, Cameron, she’s with us. She’s here. She’s a little — OK. She has some stage fright. She is has some stage fright.
CAMERON CLAY: Hi, baby… I don’t even know how to feel. I’m so thankful to everyone involved, Paws of War, and, you know, everyone on base who helped me through this whole process. It’s just amazing. I don’t even know what to think right now. It’s just so great. Thank you, everyone, everyone involved.
Cameron Blasek – Young Patriot Award
BLASEK: Wow. Thank you all so much. Seriously, I never expected to be here throughout all that. So… First off, I want to say that I’m humbled and proud to get this award tonight. You know, never expected any of this. And I want to thank Fox Nation for the incredible honor. Their commitment to recognizing the values that make our country great is inspiring, truly. So I also want to thank my family and friends, their unwavering support and encouragement has been my rock. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I also want to… I want to say to the brave men and women out there who serve our country, thank you. Your sacrifices are the true essence of patriotism. The sacrifices I made of, you know, willing to be suspended and possibly expelled from high school is nothing compared to them. So thank you. Tonight, I also want to give a thank you to a family in Oklahoma. I didn’t see it mentioned on there but I had had a family that reached out to me. And they had a 13-year-old boy in Hollis, Oklahoma. His name was Jackson Dugger (ph). He was ill of cancer. He reached out and said that he wanted his final ride to be in my truck. So me and my father, we made that happen. We drove all the way down there and we — we did it. So I want to give a thank you to them for welcoming me into their lives. I also want to give a thank you to my local VFW. They were a huge help throughout all of this. The company who did the wrap on my truck, GCI Simple Solutions and Services (ph). And last but not least, my mother and father. They’re the ones who made me who I am. So thank you.
Kirk Cameron – Culture Warrior Award
KIRK CAMERON, TELEVANGELIST: I am — have a heart full of — have a heart full of gratitude just to be uh counted together with you this evening for this important night of honoring people all over this country these unsung heroes who are doing such important work. I think we all know that in order to shape the future we have to get to the hearts and minds of our children and to the grandchildren, and that’s what so many have tried to do, leading them in the wrong direction. And I believe that God has given us a new day. There is a spirit of hope and optimism that is in the air. We can see the future more clearly now. And I honestly believe that that heaven’s clocks keep perfect time and the last four years have been a perfect window into the future we could have taken. And as a nation, I believe we really dodged a bullet. And just what if the present cultural setback was really a divine setup for a spiritual comeback led by the family of faith. I’m so grateful for brave books that has partnered with me on these library readings at public schools. I’m so thankful for President Donald Trump and his God-given tenacity and strength. He has more no quit than anyone else I have ever seen, and I’m so thankful for FOX Nation and for all the patriots around the country who are quietly doing the work of raising up their children, creating strong families and strong communities because that’s how we turn the nation around and get her back on track, the power of God working in the heart of people. It’s a great honor and I’m so humbled and privileged to be with you here tonight and receive this award. Thank you.
General Dick Cody – Weather Ultimate Patriot Award
CODY: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. It’s very dangerous to give a retired general a microphone, but I’ll be quick. First off, I want to thank Fox Nation and I also want to congratulate the other awardees tonight. I’ve seen your stories and each one of you represent what’s really great in America and I salute you. Thank you for what you all have done. I need to thank my wife of going on 50 years. She allowed me to deploy again after hip surgery. And I didn’t tell my doctors, but she signed me off and she has been with me for 50 years and supported me. So thank you, sweetheart. I’d also like to recognize, I don’t do this often, but I have two sons. Since 9/11, both of my boys Colonel Clint Cody and Colonel Tyler Cody. They’re — they’re Apache pilots and since they were lieutenants they’ve deployed to combat over seven or eight times. And they’re still serving. And they’re better pilots than I am. And I want to give a shout-out to them. CODY: I was just one of probably a hundred helicopter pilots that showed up and answered the call to duty one more time for the devastation in North Carolina. A lot of civilian helicopters, a lot of active duty helicopter pilots and stuff, they were all younger than me, I might add. So I accept this award very humbly, on behalf of all them, because they did some great work out there. I’d also like to give a shout out to Edward and Franklin Graham and the team of Samaritan’s Purse. I’ve never seen an organization, and they do it much better than the military, point-to-point supply to people that need it now. No one does it better than them. And it was a pleasure working for them. So thank you. And the last thing I’ll say is, don’t forget the people in North Carolina. Our work is not done there yet. Keep supporting them and them in their prayers. Thank you all so much.
Paul Pendene & Dr. Sam Foote – Salute to Service Award
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Dr. Sam Foote and Paula Pedene are this year’s Fox Nation Salute to Service recipients.
CAIN: Unfortunately, Dr. Sam Foote couldn’t be here tonight, but please welcome Paula Pedene.
PEDENE: You know, I see the stories again and it just brings tears to my eyes. Who does that to people? Who? And thank goodness Pete Hegseth, before he came to Fox News, was with Concerned Veterans for America and they helped us. They saw it. Yes. And not only that, Pete and Darren and Dan and their team, they helped fix it. They brought in accountability, things that we were missing, all these things that we needed. And today, I think the VA is still at a crossroads, and that’s hard. They — our veterans deserve the best. They do. They are — you know, our military men and women are on the frontlines today. Our nation’s veterans are standing there behind their back supporting them. We owe a debt of gratitude to them. And I owe a debt of gratitude to Fox Nation for this beautiful award. How nice of you. And to my legal team that helped me, it was two long years that I was picked on and bullied as a whistleblower. They took me from the sixth floor of the hospital down to the basement library, and it was paper cut after paper cut after paper cut trying to get me to quit. And I didn’t. And you know, that was God. We know him, we know his grace. He is so loving and he had me where he needed me to be because had I not been banished to the basement, I wouldn’t have heard about the waits and delays, I wouldn’t have been able to get the evidence that I was able to give to Dr. Foote and to make a difference for our veterans. So, there was many people who helped me along the way and I have to give a special thanks to my family. It was very challenging for us. My husband Bill, our two sons, Robert and Steven, you guys are my rock. I love you to the moon and back. And you know, to all the whistleblowers out there, it’s a good fight. It’s a tough one, but it’s a good one. We need truth. We need accountability. Thank you for what you do, and thank you.
Clarence McCallister – Award for Bravery 
HALL: Well, ladies and gentlemen, that’s a video that we’ve all seen before it’s absolutely incredible, and I want to please now welcome the recipient of the FOX Nation Award for Bravery, Clarence McCallister.
MCCALLISTER: I want to thank everybody for having me out here. I want to thank FOX News, you know what I mean? I want to thank my wife and I got my sisters out here supporting me. And I just want to say, you know me that in America, here, we’re all heroes. We’re all heroes, you know, yeah. We all have the heart to do whatever it takes that we need to do. You know, we as — our mothers — we got mother instincts, we’re going to do anything to protect our children, we’re going to do anything to protect our loved ones. And so, I want to thank everybody who was supporting me in the city of Pittsburgh. I want to thank public works. I want to thank environmental — I want to thank everybody that’s in Pittsburgh that been supporting me for a long time and all the good things they’ve said about me. You know, I — me so —
JONES: Got something for you, listen, your pastor, Glenn Germany, the man that you saved, he’s here tonight…
GLENN GERMAN, PASTOR: Hey, man. How everybody doing out there? Good to be alive. Yeah. I thank God — I thank God for protecting me and watching over me. I thank God for keeping his angel, hallelujah? Having him making sure that nothing happened to no one else inside our building. So I’m really grateful. I truly thank the Lord for protecting me. Today is a day of Thanks giving, I’m thankful for my lovely wife who is here with me and she’s always been a anchor for me and I’m just so grateful to have her in my life. And there are others who I would love to thank in the aftermath who came through, our State Rep. Albury Salzburg as well as our wonderful mayor of North Braddock, Cletus Lee. I thank them for their continual support of our community as well as our church. And last but not least I want to give a deep sincere true sincere word for our president, Mr. Donald Trump. We are so glad to have you back. We are so glad. And truly, I understand what it means for someone to make an attack on your life that is unwarrant — and my deepest apologies out to you and your family. I’m so glad that you are here today. I just want to say, it’s all about love the young man who attempted that, I forgave him and it’s all about us loving. These young men, young women who’s going through mental illness, they need our help, and I’m just praying today that we can work together and show them love.
God bless you, America. We have the greatest country and I pray that it becomes the safest and greatest country. Thank you.
Guillermo Estrada & Alex Jones – Award for Courage
ALEX JONES, AWARD WINNER: Thank you all very much. From both myself and my brother Guillermo the entirety of Phi Kappa Phi and all of Greek life at UNC, the outreach of support from not only the people that are here in this room but across the nation has really been something that has been both inspiring and humbling. You know, my grandfather comes from eastern North Carolina. He’s a small farm town boy and being up here in, you know, this stage is something that he never would have dreamed in his entire life for his grandson. And to me, that’s really what not only this flag but this entire nation represents and for me that’s why you know, I acted on that day.
GUILLERMO ESTRADA, AWARD WINNER: We didn’t hesitate when we saw our flag being torn back down because this flag represents the beacon of hope that called my parents to this great country 20 years ago. The promise of liberty and prosperity that makes America a light to the world, that is what that flag represents and to those — to those that still for some reason question the meaning and importance of the flag, I invite you to sit down with families like mine from Goldsboro, North Carolina, family like Alex’s, and to listen to truly what the red white and blue truly means to us. Once again on behalf of the Kappa chapter of Phi Kappa Phi at UNC Chapel Hill and UNC’s proud Greek community, we thank you for this honor. Go Heels!
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